L.A. Basin Gets Light Showers and Heavy Winds
Light showers dampened scattered sections of the Los Angeles Basin early Thursday as a strong upper-level front moved swiftly across Southern California, producing wind gusts of up to 50 m.p.h. in the mountains and deserts.
During the day, less powerful winds raked metropolitan Los Angeles, blowing sand and dust and whipping trees and power lines. The wind-cleared skies were sunny and high temperatures moved into the high 60s and low 70s.
Winds fanned a blaze that gutted a two-story home in Cerritos, causing an estimated $300,000 damage and scorching the shake-shingle roofs of three nearby homes, the Los Angeles County Fire Department reported.
For the most part, the showers Thursday did little but water lawns and flowers. No precipitation was recorded at the Los Angeles Civic Center, but residents of other areas, including Pasadena, reported downpours.
Meteorologist Marty McKewon of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, predicted sunny skies and slightly cooler weather for today, with highs in the upper 60s in Los Angeles. He expects the weather will be much the same through the weekend.
“We’re looking forward to a decent weekend,” McKewon said.
The weather front that moved through Thursday was spawned in the Gulf of Alaska, traveled south to southeast, then moved inland, McKewon said. He expects another cold front to arrive Monday.
McKewon said that for the present he does not foresee any more late-season rain.
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